Chapter 12, Act I - A Traitor Catches a Flag.
I quickly left them to wrap up the tour, since I got bored pretty soon after that. I just headed back to the cabin, and Luke grinned, clapping me on the back. "Good job back there with Clarisse and her goons." He congratulated me. "Uh, Luke, that wasn't me. I actually had to keep Annabeth and myself dry in that bathroom while the newbie went nuts." Luke faltered.
"What?" He demanded. The rest of the kids turned to look at the two of us. "Percy did that, with the toilet water. He was about to get dunked in the toilet, and it was crazy. His hydrokinesis is much better than mine. I'm honored to know you think I'm that powerful, but it was all him." I told them. No point keeping it secret. Word is gonna spread about camp in an instant.
Even then, I'm their resident hydrokinetic. They're gonna think they have another elemental Hecate kid on their hands, not a son of Poseidon, despite how obvious it is. How did I know? Plot. That's why.
They all started grilling me with questions. Only Lou and Alabaster seemed hesitant to believe the Hecate kid ruse I hoped to pull. Percy didn't look like the traditional Hecate kid, after all. We all looked a little weird by nature. Whether it be an unusual eye or hair color, or something else.
Like Alabaster. His eyes were green, but they were literally swirling with magical power. Lou had dark hair, enough that it looked almost purple, with green highlights. Apparently it's something she's tried to change, but nothing ever stuck longer than an hour. Then there's me, with white hair and violently purple eyes.
Percy looked like some street rat from New York. I gave the two of them a shushing signal, and the two of them shared a glance, but seemed to accept it. They knew I was weird, and that I hid stuff pretty regularly.
As soon as everyone's questions were finished, they all started horsing around, excited for Percy's return, and for dinner. I left to go find Percy and Annabeth, and I ran into Percy not far away from the Hermes cabin.
"Hey, uh, Percy. I'm not sure Annabeth told you, but Poseidon isn't supposed to have kids. So I told the Hermes cabin you did the water stuff, but I also have access to minor water powers, as an elemental child of Hecate, so I just told them you're probably a Hecate kid. I just wanted to warn you." I told him nervously.
"Why isn't he supposed to have kids?" He asked. "There was a prophecy about a Big Three kid, and the Big Three got scared, so they took an oath to not have kids. That's why you don't see any Zeus kids here, or Hades kids." I explained. He shakes his head. "My day keeps getting weirder and weirder." He complains.
"Trust me, it's about to get weirder. Come on." I promised, bringing him back to the cabin. Once we got there, Luke quickly came over. "Here. I found you a sleeping bag, and I stole you some toiletries from the camp store." Luke said, grinning.
Percy had a dubious look on his face. "When a Hermes kid tells you they stole something for you, they definitely stole something for you." I assured him. "Thanks." He told Luke, grabbing the sleeping bag and toiletries from him.
"No prob." Luke said, sitting up against the wall between me and Percy. "Tough first day?" He asked Percy.
"I don't belong here. I don't even believe in gods." He confided in Luke. Luke snorted. "Yeah, I still don't believe in them. It's not that they don't exist, I just don't have faith in them to do shit. Once you start accepting they exist, though? It just gets harder from there." He said darkly.
They kept talking for a while, and I tuned it out. I had a plan for tonight. I needed to talk with Luke about Kronos, since he's officially joined sides with him now. After a while, the conch horn sounded.
"Eleven, fall in!" Luke called out. Everyone sorted into a single-file line, in order of seniority. I tapped Luke's shoulder. "We need to talk after dinner." I told him seriously. His eyes darkened. I think he already knew what I wanted to talk about. Aside from that, we went to dinner, and it was pretty peaceful.
Percy was filled in as it all happened, from the offerings to the magical goblets and the plates that the aurae filled for us. After dinner, Luke and I went back to the cabin early.
Luke was tense the entire time, hand on a knife. "Luke, I want you to know this before I start talking. I don't plan on telling anyone what you did at the solstice. I don't plan to join you, but I won't interfere using my knowledge that you stole the bolt." I promised.
"I just want you to think this through. I know you think Kronos will bring justice for the unclaimed, but that's not the case. He ate his kids, I'll remind you." I told him.
"He's offered justice. He swore on the Styx he would." Luke confessed to me. "And do you think those oaths hold on the king of the Titans? I know he plans to involve Oceanus with an offer he can't refuse, and Styx is Oceanus' daughter. She listens to him."
Luke was deathly silent, so I continued. "He came to me, in my dreams, too. I'll admit, it was tempting. But he's not called the Crooked One for nothing." I stood up, and said one last thing before leaving the cabin.
"Luke, I know I can't convince you to stand down. This is your fate. Instead, I offer a truce between you and me. I won't interfere with your plans, you don't interfere with mine. You can tell the Crooked One that the offer extends to him as well. I won't act against him, not until the final battle, and I promise you, that battle will come. But that only stands if he and his minions do not bring harm to me or my plans. I expect an answer by the summer solstice."
Now, I knew I'd have to break the truce very soon, but Kronos doesn't try outright killing Percy until the Titan's Curse, in the original timeline. So maybe I can work with that. I just need to train, train, train until then, and it may buy me some safety from the Titan until then.
Now, as for my promise to Hestia to protect Percy? I can't disrupt fate by coming along on the quest, but I can certainly spectate.
The next few days went by quickly. Percy was learning some Greek, among other things, as expected. Archery went poorly, sword fighting went spectacularly, canoeing went well, he kept up alright in Greek, just to name a couple examples.
But whenever we got free time, I pulled him aside to the canoe lake, and helped him with his powers. I know, I'm disrupting canon, but he knows who his dad is already. I know, I'm guilty of outright telling him, but I mean, it's way too obvious it was painful to not tell him.
Helping him with his powers could help him grow like a root, so to speak, in the hierarchy of power in the Greek and Roman worlds.
But then came Friday. I don't like participating in Capture the Flag, and in fact, it was in question on whether or not I should be banned, because my powers gave a little bit of an unfair advantage. The population of the camp only really knew my elemental powers, thankfully. The rest of my powers should come in use at some point, hopefully creating an element of surprise when needed.
But I knew I needed to participate in this game. Percy was at risk in this game, so I needed to manipulate events from the treetops to protect Percy from Clarisse and her goons, as well as the hellhound Luke summoned. After all, I'm supposed to be protecting Percy.
The game itself was largely uneventful until the Ares campers emerged from the bushes, surrounding Percy quickly. "Cream the punk!" Clarisse shrieked. I elected to remain a spectator until I noticed Percy was in proper danger, which was a possibility, considering that this was Clarisse.
Percy was stunned, his arms numb from Clarisse's spear, Maimer. One of the campers surged forward to grab Percy's hair, and I froze some water around their feet, tripping them, and they fell past Percy. Unfortunately, I couldn't control the ice, but I could control the water itself. Ice was outside of Hecate's control, apparently.
One of them lashed out with their sword. It was about to cut his arm, but Percy screamed, and the creek exploded. The Ares kids got knocked back, and he stood, fury in his eyes. I drop from the trees, and rest my hand on Percy's shoulder. "Percy," I said gently, "that's enough."
He took a breath, turning to me. "You're right. They're not worth my time." He scowled, as the water fell back into place in the creek. The Ares campers rose, fear in some of their eyes. The only one to not rise was Clarisse, who had been spasming.
Right. Water conducts electricity. She'd probably be fine. She was fine in the books, and Ares kids are pretty durable when it comes to injury. As the remaining parts of the Ares cabin approached, I raised a hand, and blew them back again with aerokinesis.
I heard cheering, and I smiled slightly as I saw Luke crossing the creek, the Ares cabin flag in hand. "A trick!" A dazed Clarisse shouted. "It was a trick." She said, weakly this time.
The red banner shimmered, turning to silver, with a caduceus adorning the center of it. Tons of people on our team picked up Luke and carried him around, cheering. Chiron emerged from the woods, and he blew on a conch horn.
The game was finished, and we won. Percy was about to join the crowd, but Annabeth shimmered into existence next to us, her Yankees cap in hand. That damn invisibility cap. Too many pranks gone wrong because of that thing.
"Not bad, Percy." She said approvingly. She turned to me. "I'm guessing you taught him to do that?" She asked. I smirked. "Guilty as charged."
We continued talking, but before too long, I heard the hellhound growl, right on time. I brought a bow from my inventory, and nocked a light arrow in the bow. A howl echoed through the clearing.
"Stand ready! My bow!" Chiron shouted in Greek. Annabeth drew her dagger. The hellhound appeared, lunging at Percy. I shot light arrow after light arrow at it. It wasn't long before my MP was exhausted, and it still wasn't dead, until Chiron shot it in its eye, and it dissolved.
Percy was laying on the ground, his torso torn open and bleeding, his face pale. "Come on, Percy." I grunted, grabbing him. "To the water. You're not dying to some stupid mutt." I declared, setting him in the water.
Before our eyes, his torso was sewn back together, good as new, his blood dispelled from the water quickly. Percy rose shakily, panic in his eyes. "Di immortales! That's a hellhound. They don't... They're not supposed to..." Annabeth stammered.
"Someone summoned it." Chiron said gravely. "Someone inside this camp." I discreetly turned my eyes to Luke, my eyes narrowing at him. He shook his head at me. I frowned. That couldn't be right. If he didn't summon it... Then Kronos had other people in the camp, not just Luke, from day one.
Well, this might just get complicated.
But I was shaken from my thoughts when a symbol flashed to light above Percy's head. A magnificent, detailed, sea green trident. After a few moments, the hologram faded from existence, and I knelt. "It is determined." Chiron announced.
"All hail Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon. Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses." Chiron said gravely.
